Class Struggles in China Today: Towards a Third Chinese Revolution?

Abstract

The passing of Elisabeth Allès, on 1 January 2012, came as a shock to many people, well beyond academia. Despite her grave illness, she had decided to attend a public workshop organized at the French National Library by the EHESS on 7 December 2011, devoted to « Revolutions today ». As a specialist of Islam, she had closely followed the recent changes in the Muslim world. An anthropologist attuned to the field, she always distinguished between the rigour of academic work and the choices of political commitment, but she was also able, when the opportunity arose, to associate the two, with the soft-spoken firmness that made up her character. The following essay represents her last public appearance and is published here as a tribute to her academic contribution and intellectual courage.